The present invention relates to a console box.
A console box that accommodates small objects may be arranged between a driver seat and a passenger seat in a vehicle. One embodiment of a known console box includes a box body having an opening portion, a lid supported by a hinge shaft on the box body, an opening/closing mechanism that tilts the lid between an opened position where the lid opens the opening portion and a closed position where the lid closes the opening portion. U.S. Pat. No. 7,407,200 discloses an example of a console box including two lids and an opening/closing mechanism that has a plurality of gears. The two lids are arranged next to each other in the widthwise direction of a vehicle. In the console box, the opening/closing mechanism tilts the two lids about the corresponding hinge shafts in opposite directions to open and close the opening portion.
In the conventional console box, when the two lids are tilted to the closed position about the hinge shafts, the lids close the opening portion. When the two lids are tilted to the opened position about the two hinge shafts, the lids greatly open the opening portion.
When the lids have been tilted to the closed position, the vehicle occupant may apply force to a lid that further tilts the lid in the closing direction from the closed position. When the lids have been tilted to the opened position, the vehicle occupant may apply force to a lid in the opening direction that further tilts the lid in the opening direction from the opened position. No measures have been taken against such an erroneous operation of the lids in the conventional console box. Thus, erroneous operation of a lid will apply excessive load to the opening/closing mechanism. This causes adjacent gears to mesh with one another at improper positions. As a result, the opening/closing mechanism may not function properly and close and open the two lids at different timings.
Such a problem is not limited to the type of console box described above that uses two lids to entirely open and close the opening portion but may also occur in a console box that uses a single lid to entirely open and close the opening portion.